


Coming Home

by McG



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-07 03:44:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5442149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McG/pseuds/McG
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Steve dated while they were in college, but haven't spoken in years. Tony has married, and taken the reins at Stark Industries, while Steve joined the army. But Steve came home broken. Struggling with depression and addiction, he turns up at Tony's door with nowhere left to turn, and Tony offers him a place to stay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tonystarkssnipples](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonystarkssnipples/gifts).



Happy checked his watch, and sighed, squinting out at the rain. Time for a last patrol of the perimeter of the Stark Mansion before he headed home for the evening, and right on cue it had started to rain interminably. He stepped out into the night, and it was as he rounded the corner and the front gate came into view that he spotted the man outside. Tall, but hunched in on himself against the rain, he appeared to be in a staring contest with the buzzer on the gate. 

“Hey,” Happy called as he approached, “You can’t be here, pal, this is private property.”

The man started at the sound of Happy’s voice and looked up, startled and tense. Up close Happy could see that the guy was younger than he’d first thought. He was thin, and obviously on edge. He was jittery, and lit only by the security lights he looked washed out and ill. Shivering, perhaps from the cold or perhaps something else as the rain dripped off the end of his nose he painted a forlorn picture. 

Happy thought briefly about the hot flask of coffee he had enjoyed earlier and felt a brief pang of guilt that he had nothing to offer the guy before he sent him on his way. 

“Come on, pal, move it along. Go find somewhere dry, yeah?”

“I’m looking for Tony Stark,” the man told him, his voice hoarse. 

“Well you got me instead. Time to get going; I don’t wanna have to call the cops.”

“No, you don’t understand, I’m a friend a’ his. My name’s Steve Rogers.” he said, briefly making eye contact with Happy as his gaze darted around.

“You’re Rogers, are you?” Happy had never met Steve Rogers, though he knew the name from Tony’s stories of his college days. He’d seen photos too, and while this guy didn’t immediately strike him as the blond muscle-bound young man grinning at a camera, the resemblance wasn’t totally unlikely. 

“Got any ID to prove that?” Happy asked. 

“Got these,” Steve tugged on a chain around his neck, pulling out his dog tags and holding them up for Happy to see, pressing up against the gate to get as close as he could. “That do you?” 

_Rogers, Steven G._ was clearly printed on the first line of the metal. 

“Wait here.” Happy told him. He stepped away from the gate, fishing his phone out of his pocket and hitting speed dial to call Tony. “Hey, boss. Got a guy at the gate asking for you, says he’s Steve Rogers, whaddaya want me to do with him?” 

There was a pause while Happy listened to the response. 

“Well he doesn’t look great. … No. … His dog tags. … Yeah? … Sure thing, boss.” he looked back over to Steve as he approached, pulling his security ID card from his belt as he approached. “You’re in luck, pal.” he said as he opened the gate. 

***

Tony descended the stairs as he heard Happy tapping in the security code for the front door. He stopped half way down, arrested by the sight before him. 

He was glad that he’d been warned that this was Steve Rogers. If he’d walked past him in the street Tony wasn’t sure if he’d recognise the man. His blonde hair was unkempt and hung lank around his face, water dripping from the ends and onto the floor. 

Gaunt cheekbones and mismatched clothing, which was not looking improved by being soaked through with rain. He was glancing nervously around the entrance hall, clutching a battered rucksack tightly. He hadn’t seen Tony yet. 

“Hi, Steve,” Tony began, unsure what else to stay. “Thanks Happy, you can take off for the night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I’ll have the car ready for the thing at 10,” Happy answered, tipping him a quick salute, and with one last worried glance back he slipped out the door, leaving them alone. 

Steve was still glancing around, looking agitated, and shifting his weight from foot to foot. His eyes flitted to Tony and away, and he wouldn’t meet his eye as he spoke. 

“Sorry to drop in like this,” he muttered. He hitched the rucksack up on his shoulder, and it clinked. “I didn’t have anywhere to go.” 

“How long have you been stateside?” Tony asked, descending the stairs, wrinkling his nose at the smell of unwashed man and damp clothes. 

“I got out coupla years now,” Steve sniffed, and kept his shoulders hunched, his whole body drawn in tight, defensive. He finally met Tony’s eye, his own eyes bloodshot and pupils dilated. 

“You look like hell,” Tony pointed out frankly. 

Steve sniffed again, and glanced anxiously around once more. 

“You don’t. Nice digs,” Steve answered. 

“Cold blooded capitalism is nice work if you can get it,” Tony told him cautiously. “What’re you doing here, Steve? I’ve not seen you in, what, eight years? Nine?”

“Since Rhodey’s party, year after graduation,” Steve answered. He ignored the first part of the question.

“Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m not hungry. Is Pepper here?” 

“She’s out of town. Women in Business conference. I’m keeping the home fires burning, feeding and walking the kids, all that.”

“How old are they now?”

“Rosie’s six, James is four.”

“Can I stay here? Not for long, just a couple of days? I need to get myself sorted out. I got kicked outta where I was staying.”

“Steve, it’s 11 o’clock at night. I’ve not seen you in almost a decade. I’ve not even heard from you at all in years. And you’ve turned up on my doorstep to ask for somewhere to stay?”

“Please, Tony? I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

Tony sighed reluctantly, and beckoned for Steve to follow him. “Come on, you can stay for tonight and we can sort this out in the morning”.

He led Steve up the staircase and along a corridor to the right, leading to a spacious bedroom with a palatial en suite.

“You wanna get a shower?” Tony asked, “I’ll get you some dry clothes, and we can wash those ones.” Or burn them, he added silently.

Steve nodded, and let Tony usher him into the bathroom, switching on the shower to let the water run hot and pulling out some towels from one cupboard and miniature toiletries from another. “Should be everything you need,” Tony told him. “Pepper likes to keep the place ready for guests. Plus I like to hoard tiny bottles of hotel shampoo.” Tony went on.

“Thanks,” Steve said, and finally relinquished hold of his rucksack, bending to start unfastening his boots.

“Right. I’ll just—Clothes,” Tony rambled as he backed out of the bathroom.

He retraced his steps back to the staircase, and then kept going down the corridor into the other half of the house. The family bedrooms were all on this corridor, with his and Pepper’s bedroom and home-gym at the front of the house, and the kids’ bedrooms and playroom on the back, looking over the garden.

Tony crossed the master bedroom to the closet and rummaged through his clothes, scowling in concentration as he tried to figure out whether any of his clothes would fit Steve.

The Steve he remembered had broad shoulders and strong arms and they had never been able to share Tony’s clothes. But the man Tony had left in the guest bathroom was definitely decidedly thinner than Tony remembered. A long sleeved shirt was easy enough, and he found in his pile of gym clothes a zip-up hoodie that looked like it would be a good fit. Pants were going to be a different matter though – even skinnier than in the past, Steve was taller than Tony by a fair amount and longer in the leg. Tony thoughtfully held up a couple of pairs of sweatpants before finally deciding on some pyjama pants that were definitely too long for him. He gathered up some clean underwear and socks as well, along with a can of deodorant.

Tony knocked gently on the bathroom door before entering, “Ok, so I think I’ve managed to find some pants that will-- Holy fuck!” he stopped dead in his tracks as he looked up and caught sight of Steve.

Steve was sitting in the bottom of the shower tray with his back to Tony. His knees were drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped around his legs. He had his forehead pressed to his knees and was letting the full force of the shower spray flow over his head. But what had caught Tony’s eye was the large purple and blue bruising spreading up Steve’s ribs and across his back. 

“Steve what the fuck happened to you?” Tony asked, placing the clothes on the countertop and crossing to the shower doorway. “Steve?”

Steve ignored him, pulling away sharply when Tony reached out a hand and touched him on the shoulder. 

Tony sighed. “Great, okay, right then,” he muttered as his shed his socks, jeans and faded band t shirt, leaving him clad only in a white undershirt and striped boxer-briefs. He kicked the discarded clothes out the way and crouched down beside the shower, reaching a hand out again and putting just one hand on the side of Steve’s arm. 

“Steve, it’s just me, I’m getting in the shower now, and we’re going to talk, ok?”

He squeezed past Steve’s crouched figure and fitted himself in the space at the end of the shower cubicle, sitting facing Steve, their knees almost touching. 

“Yeah, so this is maybe not one of my brightest ideas.” he said to himself. “So, Steve, you wanna tell me what the hell is going on? You’ve just turned up on my doorstep out of the blue, you look like hell, you’re strung out like woah, and now you’re having a nervous breakdown in my shower while looking like a small troupe of elephants have been practicing ballet on your chest. Come on, talk to me man.” 

“It wasn’t elephants.” Steve muttered, with a sniff. 

“Yeah I thought I probably would have heard about it if some of those guys had escaped the circus.” Tony kept as still as he could, trying to maintain neutral body language and resisting the urge to hug Steve in case he scared him off. 

“I had to move out of where I was staying. I had no more money, and some guys thought I owed them, and so we had some words.” He took a shaky breath, and scrubbed his face with the back of his hand. He tipped his face up into the flow of water and began rinsing his hair, pushing it back from his face. 

“You can’t go to the police?” Tony asked, handing Steve the bottle of shampoo without being asked. 

“It wasn’t exactly legit, Tony. I can hardly sic my lawyers on them for breach of a tenancy agreement.” 

“Okay, you want me to go beat them up for you?” Tony’s offer was genuine, seeing Steve so downtrodden was shocking given how strong and stubborn he had always been. Steve merely snorted, and paused in lathering the shampoo to fix Tony with the most sceptical look he could manage.

“Of course not.”

“And what about the part where you look for all the world like a guy on the verge of a particularly brutal come down?” Tony asked, decided to screw courtesy and go straight for the important question.

Steve shrugged, but did nothing to deny it. 

“Hey, I’m not judging. I just want to know what’s going on with you Steve.”

Steve shrugged again, “Not exactly many jobs out there for a guy like me. Got outta the army a couple years back, things’ve been tough since. Hard to get work, hard to find somewhere to live. Nice just to not have to think about it for a while, y’know.”

Tony sighed deeply. “Ok, here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re going to finish washing, and then we’re going to get out of the shower and put some clean and dry clothes on. And then we’re going to get something to eat, and then we’re going to sleep, and then we’re going to worry about everything else tomorrow.”

“Can we just stay here for a few minutes first?” Steve asked, plaintively.

“Sure thing.”


	2. Chapter 2

When Steve woke up the next morning it took him moment to remember where he was. The bed was incredibly soft under him, and the morning light was streaming in the window. He rolled over and groaned when the movement made his head pound and he felt sick. His joints ached and reluctantly sat up and dragged himself out of bed and over to the bathroom to use the toilet and drink some water. 

He knew that coming to Tony for help was a long shot. They hadn’t exactly kept touch in the past ten years. Steve had gone to join the army, and Tony had taken up his role as CEO of Stark Industries. They’d both decided that they wouldn’t bother trying to keep dating in the next phase of their lives, but it had been a hell of a kick in the teeth for Steve when just two years on Tony (reckless, playboy, party animal) had married Pepper Potts, his newly appointed CFO. 

He crossed back to the bed and rummaged in his tattered rucksack, producing a pack of cigarettes and a pill bottle. He swallowed two of the painkillers and pocketed the cigarettes. 

As he descended the stairs, the sound of Tony’s voice became audible, as did the smell of coffee, and Steve followed both to the large, airy kitchen that took up one side of the house. Tony waved in greeting, and held out a mug with a questioning look as he continued talking into the phone. 

“...no because he’s an ass, as you very well know, and it will in fact make him happier–” Steve accepted the mug of coffee, and waggled the pack of cigarettes at Tony, “yes, it will. There is literally nothing in the world that that man likes more than bitching about me, so the way I see it– Yes! .. no, because... Listen, Pep–” Tony crossed the kitchen and opened the french doors onto the patio and indicated with a nod of his head that Steve could smoke outside. “Pepper, you are in fact the most wonderful human in the entire world. … Yes … Ok … I promise … Yeah, I love you too. Bye.” he ended the call and pocketed his phone as he walked to the doorway. Leaning against the frame he watched Steve for a while. 

Wearing the same sleep pants and hoodie that Tony had found for him last night, Steve was huddled against the cold. He was sitting on a wicker chair with his back to the door, and thoughtfully using a flower pot as an ashtray. 

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Tony said quietly. 

Steve took a long drag, and tipped his head back to blow the smoke upwards in a steady stream. “I didn’t.”

“Why’d you start? You were always about the clean living.”

Steve shrugged, and twisted round to look at Tony. 

“Gave up the army. A man’s gotta have some vices.”

“From what I’ve seen so far I’m going to guess that maybe smoking’s not the only vice you’ve picked up lately.” Tony added.

Steve snorted in derision. 

“Look who’s talking. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to haul your ass home from a party, or stop you jumping off a pool house roof because you’re higher than the empire state.” Steve said, keeping his back to the other man.

“And don’t think I’m not grateful. I’m also not judging, Steve. I’m just surprised, and a little concerned.” Tony told him.

“Yeah well don’t be. Let me finish this and grab my clothes and I’ll get outta your hair.”

“My day is free. If you wanted, I can drive you down to the VA? You can speak to someone there, see if they can help you get sorted with somewhere to live.” Tony offered, being careful to offer it like a free choice. All of his instincts were screaming at him to carry Steve there bodily if he had to, and not to let him leave until he’d shed this worn out, defeated persona. 

“Seriously Tony, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have come here last night. You don’t need to put yourself out.” Steve said, grinding the stub of the cigarette into the empty flowerpot.

“Too late, I’ve cancelled my meetings now, Pepper will have me tarred and feathered if I can’t prove it was for a good reason.”

“What, like babysitting your ex? Yeah I’m sure she’ll fucking love that.” 

“God, Steve, cut out the fucking self pity. I’ve rearranged my meetings, and we’re going to the VA, so quit your whinging and eat some breakfast.” 

“Not hungry.” Steve said, still not moving from his seat. 

“Fine, suit yourself. We’re going out in 10 minutes so get yourself ready.” Tony snapped, turning abruptly and closing the door behind him. 

***

It was a short drive to the VA centre, and Steve remained silent for it, staring sullenly out the window of the red porsche and trying to hide his hands shaking. He’d not had a hit in over a day now, the last of his stash taken by his former friends when they’d kicked him out of the squat they’d shared. The quart of whisky he still had was helping to take the edge off, but he really wanted to score something soon before the comedown hit him any harder. 

Steve followed Tony from the car into the building, and stood half a step behind him as he approached the reception desk. 

“Hi,” Tony greeted the girl on the front desk with his most ingratiating smile. “I called earlier, talked to a guy named Sam. My friend here got out the army a couple years back now but he’s having a bit of trouble with his housing. I heard you might be able to help?”

“Hey!” A man’s voice called from down the corridor. “I knew your voice was familiar on the phone! It’s Stark, right?” A black guy in a grey sweater greeted Tony, shaking his hand and nodding to Steve, “I’m Sam, is this your buddy?”

“Steve Rogers, Captain. 107th.” Steve told him curtly, dropping the handshake as quickly as he could. 

“Good to meet you Steve. How about we get a coffee and have a chat, see how we can help,” he grabbed a couple of folders from the shelf behind the reception desk and gestured for Steve to walk ahead of him. Reflexively Steve glanced at Tony, who smiled reassuringly. 

“I’ll wait here, field a few calls, flirt with the receptionist a little,” Tony told him. 

***

Steve and Sam were in the little office for a long time, and when they emerged, Sam pointed Steve in the direction of the restroom then came over to Tony. 

“He’s staying with you for the moment?” Sam asked.

“He turned up last night, said he needed a place to crash. He’s welcome to stay longer but I doubt he’ll want to.”

“I can’t really discuss anything that he and I talked about, but I’ve seen guys in his position before. He’s gonna need a friend, Stark. See if you can get him to talk to you.”

“He tell you how we know each other?” Tony asked. Sam shook his head. “We used to date, back in college. That going to be a problem?” Tony’s voice was calm and his face impassive. He was challenging Sam, watching carefully for any sign of negative reaction behind his friendly facade. 

Sam continued to smile benignly and held up his hands in a placating gesture. “We don’t judge here, Stark. We offer assistance to veterans, regardless of their personal lives. And speaking personally, I’m definitely no homophobe.” 

“Well, good.” Tony told him. Poised to say more, but stopping when Steve approached them. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Steve said quietly. Tony nodded, and glanced back to Sam to gauge his reaction to the frosty attitude. Sam kept smiling nonetheless. 

“Think about what I said, Steve,” he said lightly, “And remember you’re welcome to drop by any time if you want to talk.” 

Steve was quiet again on the drive back, but Tony had never let some potential social awkwardness put him off from asking questions. 

“How’d it go? What did Sam-the-man have to say for himself?” he asked as he turned right at an intersection.

“He’s gonna make some calls and see what he can do to help me find a place. He’s given me a bunch of forms to fill out too. Might not help; a few of the places that have space have some kind of drug testing rule.” Steve sighed and rested his head against the passenger window. He felt sick again, and everything hurt. 

“What are your options then?”

“Well I know a place down by the bus station, I might be able to bunk down a couple of nights. Or I could try and scrape together a bit of money for a bus ticket. Get out of town for a while.” 

“Hilarious. No arguments, you’re staying at the mansion with us.” Tony told him.

“I can’t, Tony–” 

“Sure you can.” Tony interrupted, “We’ve got plenty of space, and so far you’ve refused to eat anything so you’re hardly going to eat us out of house and home,” he went on, trying to keep it light.

“I can’t accept your charity.” 

“So pay me back when you’ve got somewhere to live and you’re working again.”

“Like that’s going to happen.” Steve said, darkly. Sam had made it perfectly obvious that he needed to get off the drink and drugs if he wanted anyone to take him seriously, and Steve considered that without anywhere to stay and with nothing to do all day but reflect on his failures that was really not an option. 

“Well not with that attitude.” Tony told him. “Seriously, Steve. Stay for the week, you can avoid me and the kids if you like. But I want you to have somewhere to stay and food to eat. And if you don’t want me chauffeuring you about then you can borrow the car, or Happy can drop you anywhere you need. But please stay, go back to the VA, talk to Sam. He wants to help, and so do you. Besides, it’s not like you have a better option.”

Steve sighed. “Fine. I’ll stay for a week.” Inside his head he added, _and if I’m lucky then you might actually mean it..._


	3. Chapter 3

Tony raised a hand in greeting when he heard the door followed by the click of Pepper’s shoes across the room. He didn’t look up from the screen though as he muttered under his breath, peering at a blueprint on the laptop and making notes on a window of code. 

Pepper leant down and kissed him on the top of the head. 

“Nice to see you in engineer mode,” she told him, “is that the new repulsor design from R&D?”

“Hmm? Hi. No, this is just one of the mothballed projects from when I was at MIT. I think I had half the code written for a full on AI.”

“Sounds good. I hope you’re not trying to write the other half, there’s about 60 emails in your inbox that you needed to respond to yesterday.”

“Not my PA, Pep.”

“Nope, but since you scared the last one off, you’re currently without anyone. I do have a vested interest in the success of SI you know. I like seeing you so engrossed, but if you could just channel a little bit of that into something with an actual deadline…”

Tony pushed his chair back from the desk and stretched, relishing the crack and pop of his shoulders. 

“I’m sorry Pep, you’re right. How was the flight?”

“Not bad.” she leaned in for a kiss as Tony settled on the sofa beside her. “Are the kids in bed?”

“Yeah, I read them their story about an hour ago. Rosie’s decided she hates carrots now.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get back sooner, I wanted to see them for bath and bedtime.” Pepper said, pouting slightly. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you get up with them at the asscrack of dawn when they want to play with Legos and watch cartoons.” Tony offered magnanimously. He managed to keep a straight face as he did so. 

Pepper laughed and shifted, kicking off her shoes and drawing her feet up under her.

“Very generous. Do we still have our houseguest?” she asked. 

“Yeah. I got him to go back to the VA today. He’s agreed to be referred to their medical facility for some counselling and a psyche assessment. Like getting blood from a stone, but the guy’s a mess, seriously.”

“PTSD?” Pepper asked. 

“I don’t know. Maybe. He’s not mentioned Bucky at all the whole time he’s been here. You know, Bucky, James Barnes? We sent flowers after he died.”

“Yeah I remember. He and Steve were close?” 

“Practically brothers. Joined at the hip. Except Steve came home and Bucky didn’t. From when he says he got out… I think it might be linked, but I’m not sure how to ask.”

“You said on the phone that you’re worried that he’s drinking too much?”

“Yeah. Though I’ve not seen him drinking while he’s been here. He smokes now too, and he’s all but admitted he’s using uppers.”

“He’s got drugs in the house?” Pepper asked sharply. “Tony, the kids–”

“No! Not in the house, Pep. I’m not stupid, I did set him some ground rules. He was jittery as hell when he got back yesterday though. Pretty sure he was high.” Tony sighed, and nuzzled his face into Pepper’s shoulder, kissing and nipping at her collarbone. “I’ll talk to him about it after he’s met with the psychiatrist,” Tony offered, “let him know that we want him clean if he’s going to stay here. He’ll need to be if he wants to get a job anyway. I just don’t want to push too much too soon and scare him off.”

“Hmm, okay then. Now come on, let’s go to bed.” 

***

Two weeks into his stay at Stark Mansion, Steve got back from a game of basketball with some of the guys from group therapy at the VA and let himself into the house through the side door. He crossed the hallway to the kitchen, intending to get a sandwich and a drink, but he stopped suddenly in the doorway when he realised the room wasn’t empty. 

“Oh, sorry,” he started. Four heads turned towards him. 

“Steve!” Tony said, pausing as he served out spaghetti onto plates. 

“Would you like to join us?” Pepper asked from where she was laying the table. 

The children said nothing, just stared at him. 

“Um,” Steve answered, “I don’t want to intrude…”

“Nonsense!” Pepper told him, “There’s plenty of food. Come on in, have a seat,” even as she spoke she was retrieving an extra knife and fork from the drawer, and Tony was taking down another plate and spooning out more spaghetti from the enormous pan on the stove. 

“Who are you?” Rosie asked him.

“Honey this is Steve, remember we told you he was staying for a little while?”

“Oh. Would you like to do some colouring with us?” she offered. Steve just stared, unsure whether he could accept the offer but unwilling to upset the little girl.

“Sweetie, dinner is ready now, so you need to put your pencils away. Maybe after dinner,” Pepper offered, glancing at Steve’s deer-in-the-headlights expression. 

Steve found himself sitting at the end of the table, eating a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, not entirely certain how he got to be there. Tony and Pepper moved in sync as some kind of hosting ninjas, and Steve had basically been shepherded to the table and given food before he could refuse. 

“Are you sick?” Rosie asked him, 

“Um–”

“Rosie! It’s rude to ask people questions like that,” Pepper reprimanded. 

“Oh, no, really it’s okay,” Steve answered, “I’ve been sick lately, but I’m starting to get better now,” he told the little girl. 

“What’s wrong with you; is it catching?” she carried on, shovelling peas into her mouth. 

“I’m not catching, don’t worry,” Steve told her, unsure how to explain the concept of depression or addiction to a six year old. 

“Leave Steve alone, Rosie,” Pepper told her daughter, “tell me what you learned at school today…”

And so the conversation flowed easily, Pepper and Tony both skilled in the art of hosting and keeping the topics light, and steering any further intrusive questions away. After they’d finished eating and Tony had taken the kids to get washed up and play in the other room, Steve stayed to help Pepper clear the table and fill the dishwasher. 

“I’m sorry about Rosie,” Pepper apologised, “she takes after her father: too inquisitive for her own good.” 

“No really, it’s fine.” Steve reassured, “out of the mouths of babes and all that”

“You are looking much better,” Pepper said, “are you feeling better in yourself?”

Steve shrugged, “Good days and bad days still. I definitely think the counselling and the group therapy are helping – it’s good to talk to other people who get where I’m coming from, y’know. Not sure I’m out of the woods yet though.”

“Well it’s still early days, you should be proud of how far you’ve come already. You’re looking much better already.” 

“Thank you, Pepper. And thanks again for letting me stay. I know I’m hardly your first choice of houseguest.”

“Nonsense, any friend of Tony’s…” she trailed off and then paused, looking uncomfortable. “I have to ask though Steve,” she paused again, unsure how to phrase her question politely. 

Steve took a guess at what she was trying to ask,

“Ten days clean and sober, Pepper. Sam got me into the VA program. And I know you don’t like me much, but I’m not stupid enough to bring drugs into a house with kids.” Steve told her flatly. 

“It’s not that I don’t like you, Steve. But this is my home and I will always put the happiness and safety of my family above anything else.” Pepper replied, totally unapologetic. 

“I understand that, Pepper, and I respect it completely. Thank you for feeding me, it was too kind. Now if you’ll excuse me…” Steve gave her one last smile and took his leave, grabbing his bag and heading upstairs to the guest room.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony and Pepper were both highly competent, capable, professionals, and they both took pride in being hands on parents, trying to make sure they had lots of direct contact with their kids even though being CEO and CFO of a multinational corporation was already a more than full time job. 

For Tony, this was motivated in part by the fact that his own father had often been too busy with the company to spend much time with him as a child, and for Pepper it was simply that her poise and confidence extended in all aspects of her life and if she wanted something then she damn well worked for it. And that included making time for family life as much as it did her professional ambitions. 

However, despite being pretty much geniuses in business and time management, neither of them could change the fact that shepherding two small children and their associated luggage and toys and games into a car to set off at the planned departure time for their Christmas break was always going to be chaos. Finally, after several trips to and from the car, and exchanges about favourite stuffed animals and the whereabouts of James’ shoes, they were packed and ready to set off for the ski lodge, only an hour behind their original schedule. 

Tony made one last trip into the house and up to the guest room. Steve hadn’t made an appearance all morning –which wasn’t unusual as he tried to stay out of the way of their family life– but he was looking after the house over the Christmas vacation, leaving Happy able to have more of a break than usual, and Tony wanted to do a last minute confirmation of the arrangements before they set off. 

He knocked on the guestroom door but got no answer. When he entered the room there was no sign of Steve, but the bathroom door was ajar and the light was on.

“Steve?” Tony called, crossing the room, “Steve, we’re about to head off, I just wanted to check– Oh, shit. Steve!”

Steve was sprawled across the bathroom floor, shirtless, clutching an empty whiskey bottle. The room stank of vomit and alcohol. 

“Shit, shit, shit, shit--” Tony muttered, bending to check on the other man. A pulse, strong and steady _thank god_ , and he was definitely breathing, although slower and shallower than Tony would have liked. 

“Hey, Steve, come on – wakey, wakey” he said, tapping Steve lightly on the cheek and then shaking his shoulder roughly. 

Steve did not open his eyes, but he made a grumbling noise and frowned. Tony sighed in relief and manhandled him over properly onto his side in a rough approximation of the recovery position. 

Looking at the thin, diminished version of the man he used to know so well, Tony slumped back against the bathroom counter and scrubbed a hand over his face as he fished his phone out from his pocket. He fired off a quick text message to Happy, 

_Call ambulance & meet at gate. Steve unconscious. Breath & pulse ok. Drunk._

Then he hit speed dial to call Pepper. 

“Pep, you and the kids are going to have to go without me…”

***

They were still in the middle of a full blown argument when the EMTs arrived. They moved away from the bathroom doorway to let the ambulance crew through.

“Tony, for god’s sake, we’re your family!” 

“I cannot leave him alone like this, Pepper, it’s Christmas and the man has no one else in the world.”

“We can get him into a residential facility for a few weeks, let the professionals do their job. You say you want him to get better and yet you won’t get professional help” 

“He’s getting professional help, he’s seeing the counselling service at the VA–” 

“Which is nothing! You could get him into the best establishment in the country and yet you won’t–” 

“Because I need to fix this, Pepper. I need to fix it. Me. I cause this. Everything that I do, that you do, the weapons we create, the money we make, this is the cost. Hundreds of men and women like Steve coming home broken and being cast aside. So no, I won’t just pass the problem off to someone else, I can’t just throw money at it to make it go away. Not this time. Not Steve.” 

The silence seemed to drag, with the two of them staring at each other over the guest bed. ( _Steve’s bed_ Tony had already started thinking of it as). Pepper drew herself up to her full height, towering over Tony in her heels, and visibly composed herself. 

“That’s it though isn’t it? I’m not Steve. That’s what it all comes down to in the end. Steve is the most important thing to you.” She left the room quietly, with a dignity that Tony couldn’t even comprehend, leaving him alone with the medical team and an unconscious Steve. 

***

“How angry is Pepper?” Steve asked as Tony entered the lounge. 

“Very. The kids are having a good time though. God, I miss them.” Tony said with a sigh, as he slumped down next to Steve on the sofa. He reached over the other man and snagged a can of soda, taking a swig. 

“I’m so sorry, Tony,” Steve said quietly. He was curled into the corner of the sofa, knees drawn up to his chest. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and was clutching his sketchbook. 

“Don’t be. I’m an adult, I chose to stay here for the holidays. Not your fault at all.” Tony spoke abruptly, not quite meeting Steve’s eye. 

Half an hour ago he’d excused himself to go and call the children to wish them a happy new years eve. It had quickly turned into another argument with Pepper about his decision to stay, and not to fly out and join the rest them once Steve had been discharged from hospital. 

“But if I hadn’t–”

“Steve, listen to me: your health is not a trivial matter. I could hardly just leave you there now could I? Just kick you out on the street on Christmas Eve? Or, what, dump you into rehab alone and hope you magically get better.” Tony paused, meeting Steve’s eye, “I couldn’t do that. I care about you.”

“You can’t put me ahead of your family,” Steve insisted, unsettled by Tony’s sincerity. 

“I can for this. This isn’t something you just ignore. If they needed me more then fine I would have gone, but they’re fine without me. You wouldn’t have been fine.” Tony said, shrugging it off. 

Steve put his sketch book down on the floor and stretched his arms up over his head, spine cracking and groaning. Tony watched, noticing as Steve’s t-shirt rode up with the action that he was still incredibly thin. Not at all like the muscled adonis he’d left behind when they’d graduated college. 

“Urgh, I want a drink.” Steve confessed. 

“You and me both.” Tony said, laughing hollowly. “I think we have some cocoa. I can make it double strength chocolate?”

Steve smiled at him. “Well they won’t pump my stomach for that so I guess it’s better. I’m having a cigarette too though.” 

 

They drank their cocoa standing out on the patio. Tony had dredged up some cigars from somewhere, declaring that he was too polite to let a man smoke alone. 

The night was cold and still; the stars just about visible in the clear sky, despite the glow from the city lights. 

Steve look a long drag on his cigarette and watched Tony for a while. The other man hadn't changed much in the intervening years. He'd grown his now-trademark facial hair of course. And he seemed more careworn and weighed down, which Steve supposed came with the territory of company ownership and child rearing.

There was still the buzz of energy there always had been, albeit more controlled, more subdued. But whatever the situation Tony had never been able to switch it off completely. He was constantly thinking, his brain always working over some problem or another. And it showed in subtle ways. 

The only time he was ever truly still, Steve recalled, was when he was asleep. 

He felt privileged to know that. To have been one of the few people that Tony had trusted enough to be able to truly relax. Looking back he was no longer certain that he'd been right to cut ties completely after they'd broken up. It had been amicable, both men aware that the next few years of their lives would take then in very different directions. But still Steve had felt the need to withdraw, and let the connection slide. He realised now that he'd missed so much of Tony’s life, but even now it felt that no time had passed. They'd slipped so easily back into the easy interaction they'd always had. 

“I honestly don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t let me in.” Steve said quietly. “I wouldn’t have blamed you at all if you’d just turned me away. It’s not like we kept in touch. And me turning up, practically the middle of the night, off my face, and you just let me in.”

Tony was quiet for a moment before replying. “SI builds weapons. I personally design stuff that gets people killed, people like Bucky.” Steve flinched at the name but didn't interrupt. “I've got blood on my hands. But at the end of the day, it pays the bills. It makes us enough money that we can afford to have a robotics team, and we can afford to play around in R&D with clean energy and communications tech, and all the good stuff that’s going to change the world for the better. That stuff makes me happy, but it's the bombs that pay for it.”

“Pepper said you’ve been designing for the first time in years.”

“I’m so busy, all the time. Meetings, and making nice with clients. I pay other people a lot of money to do the designing. Pepper might like to see me at the drafting table, but she likes it if I’m in the boardroom brownnosing some dickwads at the DoD better.”

“You always used to be designing something or other when we were at college. We wouldn’t see you for days at a time when you got stuck into a project.”

“Yeah, well. You become CEO of the world’s leading arms manufacturer and you don’t get to do that anymore.”

“You sound so cynical. You’re not even 35 and yet you got the weight of the world on you.”

“So do you, to be fair.” Tony told him.

“War does that to a man.” 

“And being the guy behind the weapons will too, Steve. I have blood on my hands.” Tony stated flatly. 

“Is this all I am to you? Some kind of project to clear you of your guilty conscience?” Steve asked, cautious and tense. The easy relaxed atmosphere was rapidly dissolving. 

“No!” Tony started to deny, but Steve held up a hand to silence him and continued.

“You talk about how you hate the weapons division and you hate being branded merchant of death and you hate that you can’t fund the robotics and clean energy and communications departments as much as you want because they don’t provide a big enough return. Have you ever considered that they might give you a better rate of return if you funded them better? Have you even looked at the costings or did you jump straight into your little woe is me act?” Steve asked. He struggled to speak rationally, keeping a strong hold on his gut reaction to avoid it becoming an argument. 

“Without the weapons, SI is nothing. Take away the bombs and the guns and what am I?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at Steve. 

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist?” Steve suggested. 

“I don’t know if you heard, but my playboy days are behind me.” Tony pointed out “I’m a family man now, Steve. Sensible, down to earth, practical. Everything stable and good that this company needs in a figurehead.” Tony said with an air of confidence that he didn’t feel.

***

Back in the warmth of the house, Steve chose some music to put on as Tony put the TV on with the sound turned down so that they could keep an eye on the time as it counted down to midnight. 

“I think you’re an excellent CEO,” Steve told Tony, picking up their earlier conversation. “I know you’re worried about this fight with Pepper, but you shouldn’t let it get you down. You have such passion and dedication for the work that you do.”

“You really think so?” Tony asked him, as he poured a glass of club soda, adding ice and a slice of lemon. 

“Don’t you?” Steve asked him, accepting a glass of water from Tony as the shorter man returned to the sofa. 

“I feel detached from it.” Tony explained, “I miss designing. The more theoretical power I gained over the years, the less I felt like I was actually in control. Now I barely even know what half the development and innovation teams do.”

“Invention always was your passion.” Steve said earnestly.

“It still is. I can’t complain – this is everything that I wanted. It just turns out that the reality doesn’t quite meet my expectations.”

The kiss, when it came, was not especially passionate. There was no immediate shedding of clothes or desperate scramble to the bedroom. 

It was careful, deliberate, and charged with longing and regret. It was a kiss that spoke of nostalgia, and an intense emotion of a much deeper connection than merely sexual tension. 

Neither of them could have said for definite who started it. First they were sitting close together on the sofa in the dimly lit room, and then they were kissing. Tony’s hand came up to cup Steve’s jaw, while Steve worked one hand under Tony’s t shirt, and the other carded through his hair. 

Steve pulled back first. 

“Shit, Tony, I’m sorry,” he started, then trailed off, unsure what to say. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, and then made a hasty retreat back to the bedroom.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony woke up with a raging hangover. After Steve had retreated to his room last night, he’d dug out a bottle of scotch and tried to drink away the memory of kissing Steve. 

Tony had always imagined that he was someone that could never cheat. He had a reputation as a playboy in his younger days, and he made no apologies for having taken the many opportunities available to him as a handsome young billionaire. But he’d never deliberately misled anyone, he’d never promised more commitment than he was willing and able to offer. He’d had a lot of one night stands, and a lot of short flings, but everyone involved had known up front what they were getting into. 

And then when he’d met Pepper all that had stopped. Seven years his senior, and as brilliant in business as Tony was in invention, she had blown him away. The two of them had an incredibly strong connection and Tony couldn’t imagine his life without her. 

So the thing that worried him most of all was that he didn’t feel guilty. 

Last night he had cheated on his wife, the mother of his children, and he felt no guilt, no shame and no remorse… 

The beeping of his phone drew him back to the present. 

Two text messages. The first from Pepper, time stamped 30 minutes ago.

_Setting off now. See you in a few._

The second, just a couple of minutes old.

_Happy New Year, Stark. Steve turned up on my doorstep in the night. He told me about what happened. He’s safe; he’s sober. I’m here if you need to talk. – Sam._

Tony swore under his breath. Apparently Steve had done a runner at some point in the night and Tony hadn’t even noticed him leave the house. And then on top of that Pepper was on her way back and Tony had literally no clue what to say or do. 

With a groan he dragged himself out of bed and started to get ready for the day. 

***

“So I kissed Steve.” Tony blurted, mentally kicking himself for his sheer lack of tact. 

Pepper and the kids had got home an hour ago, but the time had been spent unpacking the car, admiring new toys and colouring pens, and getting the kids settled in front of the TV. 

Ever perceptive, Pepper had dragged Tony through to the kitchen as soon as the children were suitably occupied and stood watching him with her arms folded until he said what was wrong. 

Pepper’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she stayed silent, waiting for Tony to continue. 

“I’m so sorry, Pepper. I don’t know how it happened, just one minute we were sitting talking and the next we were kissing, and I swear I didn’t mean to, and–”

“Is he still in the house?” Pepper interrupted to ask. 

“No. He left during the night. He’s staying with Sam.”

“Did you sleep with him?” she asked, not moving from her position leaning against the kitchen counter. She kept her arms folded defensively over her chest. 

“No!” Tony said emphatically. 

“What do we do now?”

“I was hoping that I would grovel and apologise and then you’d stop being mad at me after a while and then everything would go back to normal?” Tony suggested, hoping against the odds that they would be able to quickly move past this. 

Pepper said nothing, sighing and crossing to the kitchen. She took a seat at one end of the table and gestured that Tony should sit in the next chair, at right angles to her.

“When Steve came here a few weeks ago, do you know what changed?” Pepper asked once Tony had sat down. 

“Um, we hid all the wine in the house?” Tony hazarded a guess. 

“You started designing again.” Pepper supplied, choosing to ignore his comment. “You’ve been working all hours, picking up shelved projects, and making time to look over the designs that the R&D teams are putting together. You’ve been incredibly busy and you’ve been tired, but you’ve also seemed so content. These past few weeks are the closest it has felt to what you were like when we first got together.” she told him gently. 

“That’s good, I think.” Tony said hesitantly. 

“I think it’s good, too,” Pepper said, “It’s good for you and for the company. And I like seeing you happy.” she paused for a moment, and laid a hand on his forearm before she continued. “But I have been doing a lot of thinking over this past week. And there’s a direct correlation between Steve being here, and you being happy.” She trailed off, reluctant to continue. 

“What are you saying?” Tony asked. Terrified of the answer, but hating the uncertainty of this discussion more. 

“I think you should move out. I think we need to both take some time to really think about what’s important to us, and for you to think long and hard about why it is that having Steve around has made you so happy.” Pepper told him. She almost hid the waver in her voice. 

“Pep,” Tony sounded crushed. He leaned forward, slumping against her shoulder, hiding his face and swallowing against the lump in his throat. 

“It's not because of the kiss, Tony, not really.” She tipped her head to rest against his, a few stray tears escaping and landing in his hair. “But the past few weeks while Steve's been here you've seemed so… Light, I guess. Over the last few years you've been getting more and more stressed. You drink more than you used to, and you're less patient with the kids and with me. And you don't design anymore. In the first few years you used to make time to hang out in R&D but that sort of got lost along the way. I hadn't really noticed it, not really, I just accepted it as part of growing up and settling down. 

“But Tony, these last few weeks, with Steve here. You've seemed so much happier, even while worrying about his health and recovery. You have your passion back. You're like the man I first fell in love with.”

Tony choked on a sob, but otherwise did not respond. He felt raw and wrung out. He’d gone into this conversation unsure what to expect, but he certainly hadn’t imagined this. The difficult thing was that there was nothing there that he could challenge. Pepper had been able to see and put into words something that he was barely even aware of himself, but now that it was out in the open he didn’t understand how he could have missed it. 

***

Sam Wilson was having a strange week. In his line of work he expected a certain level of unpredictability, but this was definitely outside the realm of his experience. 

In the early hours the day before, he had stumbled home from a new year's party to find Steve Rogers sitting on his doorstep, and today he walked into work to find Tony Stark sitting on a chair in the waiting room, looking like death warmed over. 

“So Steve and I kissed.” Tony began, as soon as Sam had ushered him into a meeting room and closed the door. “And my wife asked me to move out.”

“Would you like me to recommend a marriage counsellor?” Sam offered. Tony shook his head. “We also have numbers for lawyers,” he continued, “though I suspect you probably know a few of those in your line of work.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Tony stated flatly. “Pepper is who I go to with problems, and I can’t talk to her now. I used to talk to Steve, but now I think I burned that bridge. And everyone else I know is an employee or emotionally stunted, or on a secret deployment overseas and the air force won’t connect my call no matter how much I tell them that it’s urgent…”

“So you’ve come to talk to me?” Sam asked, unsure what Tony was expecting from him. 

“The thing is,” Tony blithely continued, “I am miserable. I have my own company but I have to spend all my time on ridiculously trivial stuff instead of actually doing what I love. And Pepper carries a hell of a lot of it, but she insists that there’s certain things that only the CEO can do, so I still have to have a hell of a lot of input. And I hate making weapons, and I love robotics and experimental R&D and I like predicting was the future social problems will be and finding solutions for those so that we can stay ahead of the game.

“But I don’t get to do any of that. I have to be sensible and responsible and turn up at all the board meetings. And the board love that Pepper and I are married, and it just fits with the whole family business image, and all the conservative stiffs at the DoD just eat that stuff up. Someone even once did some research and concluded that that’s what gives us the edge over Hammer Industries for being the number one defence contractor. 

“But all I really want to do is tinker around and try and make the world better. But I had dug myself into such a rut that it took Steve turning up on my doorstep to make me see it. And I didn’t even see it then until Pepper pointed it out to me! And now she’s asking me to leave, and I thought I had this perfect life and everything sorted, and now my whole world feels like it’s toppling around me. And I for the first time in my entire life, I have absolutely no clue what to do.”

Sam took a moment to consider this sudden onslaught of monologue. He thought perhaps that Tony probably shouldn’t keep these things bottled up for quite so long, but he had the sense to keep that idea to himself. 

“The thing is, Tony, you’re a solutions man. I think you do know what to do. I think you’re just scared to do it.” Sam told him. He leaned forward in his chair, “What I think, is…”


	6. Chapter 6

The final part of Sam’s advice was what stayed with Tony afterwards. 

In a way, it was the only bit of their discussion that had been Sam offering an opinion on what he should do, rather than simply asking a lot of leading questions that helped Tony to reach the conclusions on his own. 

His parting comment, offered just as Tony had hesitated in the doorway, was _talk to Steve. I know you’re terrified that you’ve fucked things up, but even if that’s the case, you should talk about it so that you can both move on._

The weeks that followed were some of the most turbulent and stressful Tony had ever had. But he had a new resolve and a firm belief that he was doing the right thing. And then, underpinning it all, the motivation that he just needed to get through this, because he had to sort it all out so that he could then talk to Steve. 

Which led him here, on a freezing cold day in February, standing outside the building where Sam Wilson lived. Sam had texted him the address not long after their conversation, but he’d left it unacknowledged until yesterday, when he’d replied simply to ask,

_When will he be in?_

Sam had sent back simply a date and time. 

Tony almost didn’t get in his car and drive down here. He almost didn’t work up the courage to press the buzzer, and he almost panicked and bailed on the stairs up to the apartment. But as Sam ushered him in, and left Tony there _Oh hey, Stark, what a surprise. I was just on my way out, you can hang out with Steve…_ , Tony was suddenly glad he’d come. 

Steve looked surprised to see him and a little wary. He was dressed in jeans and a dark blue zip up hoodie over a grey t-shirt. But he looked healthier than he had over Christmas. Less drawn, his face less gaunt. He was standing in the doorway that appeared to lead through to a small kitchen, facing Tony across the small sitting room.

“You look good,” Tony said. 

“Uh, thanks,” Steve replied, “I’m feeling a lot better too.” There was a long pause. “Why are you here?” Steve asked. 

“Can we talk?”

“Sure – I’m just making coffee.”

Tony followed Steve back into the kitchen, leaning against the counter as Steve got down an extra cup and fiddled with the coffee machine. 

“I wanted to talk to you.” Tony started. “I’m sorry that I’ve not been in touch, but I needed to sort some things out first. I’m making a lot of changes in my life right now. Some of them are going to become public knowledge soon, but I need you to hear it from me. First, I think you should know, Pepper and I have separated,”

“Shit! Tony, I am so sorry-” Steve started to apologise, with a guilt-ridden expression, but Tony held up a hand to silence him. 

“Not your fault, Steve. Let me finish – it all gets a bit complicated.” He accepted the mug of coffee that Steve handed him, and continued to talk as they moved round each other in the small room, adding milk and sugar, and settling onto the high stools at the breakfast bar. 

“Pepper asked me to move out. Yes it was after I told her about new year's eve, but no it wasn’t because of it. Well, not really. 

“You also need to know that I’m standing down as CEO of Stark Industries.” Tony continued, ignoring Steve’s startled expression. “I’m transferring that power to Pepper. She always was better at that stuff than me. She’s agreed to appoint me in a lead role in R&D. I get to go back to doing what I really love.” 

Tony hunched forward, and looked down at his hands clasped around the mug of coffee. 

“After you came to stay, Pepper noticed I changed a lot. I hadn’t seen it. But she said I seemed happier, more like I had been when we first met. That’s why she broke things off. You didn’t cause a problem, Steve. But you being there highlighted a problem that we’d both been ignoring.” 

“I’m still sorry, Tony,” Steve told him gently, “the end of a relationship for whatever reason is always difficult. Add in that you have kids, and you work together… You’re allowed to be upset.”

“Yeah, no, I know. And I am. Pepper’s been my rock for pretty much my whole adult life. And even knowing that she’ll still be there in some capacity… It’s horrible, it really is. But that’s not everything. There’s a press release going out about this next week, and it’s incredibly secret until then, but you need to know: SI is shutting down the weapons division.”

“Tony!” Steve exclaimed, staring in disbelief. 

“I know, I know, it sounds like a ridiculous idea, but it’ll be a phased–” Steve placed a hand over Tony’s mouth to shut him up. 

“I was going to say that sounds brilliant.” Steve corrected him. “You’re so passionate about all the other work that you do, and then when you have to deal with the weapons division it’s like something inside you goes away.” he removed his hand from Tony’s mouth, and leaned forward to capture it in a kiss. 

Tony tensed up in response, and Steve immediately pulled back, stammering an apology, 

“God, Tony, I’m so sorry, I just, I thought– I mean, with you coming here out of the blue like this, and–”

“No wait, listen, you thought right! Yeah, no, I just, I want to offer you a job first.” Tony tried to explain over Steve’s verbal panic. 

“I– What?”

“I did come here with the hope of something like this, but I was going to offer you a job first, and then when you accepted I was going to put the moves on, I just didn’t want you to think that I was offering the job as some kind of condition of anything else!” Tony said. 

“You want to offer me a job? Doing what?”

“Anything you want! You got good grades back in college, and we have a load of entry level training programmes and paid internships. Anything you’re interested in doing we can try and support. Even if it’s just for a short time while you build up your skills or to get something on your resume, whatever.”

“Tony, this is a lovely gesture, it really is, but I'm barely two months sober, I'm seeing a therapist twice a week, you can't just promise me a job ahead of a whole load of people better qualified and who are ready to work.”

“We have part time positions and excellent wellbeing support,” Tony persuaded. 

“I’ll think about it. But that's all I'm agreeing to for now.” As he spoke, he stood and took their empty coffee cups to put in the sink. He crowded into Tony’s personal space and slowly leaned in. 

“Now I think you said something about some moves you were going to put on me?” He waited for Tony to make the first move; their faces just inches apart. 

Tony made a desperate noise in his throat and then lunged at Steve, locking his arms behind Steve's shoulder and and letting Steve lift lift him up, pinning him against the kitchen wall, supporting his weight. 

Back in college, when Steve was at his strongest and working out five days a week and Tony was a scrawny geek barely finished a growth spurt, Steve had been able to manhandle him without even breaking a sweat. Still underweight and out of condition, he couldn’t manage that now, but the muscle memory was clearly still there. Steve broke this kiss, but before Tony could complain Steve was already sucking a bruise onto Tony’s neck. 

Tony whined high and desperate, and push-pulled against the taller man. 

“Can we please, please take this to the bedroom?” Tony muttered, reluctant to part from Steve long enough to change location, but sure that he wanted to be somewhere a little more comfortable. 

Steve chuckled under his breath. 

“Sure, but I’m warning you now that the bed is tiny…”

***

When Sam got back home later in the day, Tony Stark was sitting on his sofa, wearing a pair of Steve’s sweatpants (too long for Tony), shirtless, and with a spectacular case of bedhead. 

He looked up at Sam when he heard the door and grinned, relaxed and open. 

“Excellent advice Sam,” he told the other man, “talking with Steve turned out to be a very good idea.” 

Steve offered him a fist bump on his way past the sofa. 

“Glad that worked out for you Stark,” Sam told him, “Steve asleep?” he asked. 

“Yeah, he went out like a light,” Tony answered. 

“And the other stuff we talked about, any progress with that?”

“That’s top secret, confidential and embargoed,” Tony said with an eye roll, “So it’ll probably be leaked to the press any day now.”

“Ah, corporate politics.” Sam said wryly. 

“Tell me about it. Hey, thanks by the way. You really helped me get my head on straight the other week.”

“No worries, Tony. Any friend of Steve’s…”

“It’s funny, really. Steve was the one who turned up and said he needed to sort his life out, but in the end it turned out that I was just as lost.” Tony admitted. 

Steve appeared in the doorway from his bedroom, and caught Tony’s eye before he spoke. 

“I guess it turns out that neither of us is much good without the other…” he said, smiling fondly at Tony. “Come back to bed?” he asked.

Tony didn’t need telling twice.


End file.
